


Unfinished Melody

by TheKissingHand



Series: Silver Millennium Stories & Fanart [3]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Battle, Digital Art, Doujinshi, Drawing, F/F, Fan Comics, Fanart, Friendship/Love, Negotiations, Partnership, Silver Millennium Era, Strategy & Tactics, deviantART
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-04-06 10:12:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14054682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheKissingHand/pseuds/TheKissingHand
Summary: A supplemental story toAn Everlasting Bond





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I've been thinking about this plot even before _An Everlasting Bond_ ended. I tried to let it go but it kept coming back to me. So after wrapping up a few projects I decided to write it anyway. To those who have read _An Everlasting Bond_ \- I hope you'll enjoy this side story!  
>  If you haven't read the original story, welcome! I'll provide some backgrounds so that the standalone story will make more sense. I hope you will be interested in the original story after reading this!  
> The mini doujinshi below is the "prologue" (for a lack of a better word) for this short story. I'll also provide a word version.
> 
> Clarification: This is still a HaruMichi story. And it won't be a doujinshi!

**Setting:**  Silver Millennium Era  
**Timeframe:**  A few months after the official meeting of Princess Uranus and Neptune  
**OC:**  Prince Daphnis, the older brother of Princess Saturn. Neptune's childhood friend. A flute virtuoso. He was named after one of the moons of Saturn. (I'm not a huge fan of OC but…I kind of need one for this story)

**Word Version**

**Titan Castle**

It was close to midnight. Princess Saturn walked past the study of Prince Daphnis and was surprised to find that the lights were still on. The dark-haired prince was writing sheet music again.

Saturn did not like what she saw.

She appreciated that her brother was serious about his music, but at the same time she worried about him. He was eighteen years old, and for someone his age, he should have been pursuing courtship with someone or married already. According to the social norm in the Kingdom, most would begin meeting suitors as soon as they turned sixteen. However, Daphnis never put any effort in trying to meet or pursue anyone. In fact, the attractive prince even turned down admirers hoping to court him. He always came up with reasons or excuses, like having to care for the young princess, or being too busy with his music composition or recitals.

Saturn was able to convince him to start meeting others, but the gifted flutist stopped trying completely shortly after her twelfth birthday party without offering an explanation (he played the flute and harp duet with Princess Neptune on her birthday). One day the young princess overheard a conversation between the servants and learned that her brother actually adored Princess Neptune but was too shy to pursue her...

Prince Daphnis noticed that someone was standing by the door.

"Saturn? Why are you up this late? Is everything okay?" He asked.

"O-of course!" Saturn responded. "Composing again?"

Daphnis nodded.

"Can I take a look at the sheet music?"

Without question, Daphnis smiled and handed the sheet music over to his little sister.

"Sure, but it's not finished yet."

"That's fine. I just want to see it." Saturn replied innocently.

She looked at the sheet music and suddenly had an idea.

Daphnis chuckled. He found it amusing that Saturn was interested in his composition. He knew too well that his little sister wouldn't even practice her flute regularly.

"Have you been practicing?"

"Absolutely!" Saturn said. Her mind had already moved onto her next plan. "That's why I ran out of sheet music to practice with!"

The young princess looked at the unfinished score and her eyes lit up. 

"This is exactly what I need!" She thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Triton Castle, Neptune**

Venus was paying a visit to her best friend.

"Neptune, want me to toss this away for you?" Venus asked. She picked up an object from a shallow dish sitting on Neptune's vanity table.

"Don't touch it!" Neptune said nervously and rushed over immediately.

"Why do you keep such old flower?" Venus asked with a grimacing face, before handing Neptune the old flower that had apparently past its prime. "You can get a ton of fresh flowers from Thalassa Garden."

"I like this one," Neptune said. She carefully settled the dried and dull flower back into the dish and smiled satisfyingly at it. "I'm going over to Halimede Alchemy Lab later to get some solution to preserve it."

"Hmm…this doesn't look like something from your garden." The blonde princess commented. With the corner of her lips turning upward, she shifted closer to Neptune and inquired. "Is that from somebody?"

Neptune felt the temperature of her face rising instantly. She turned away from her friend, trying to hide her blush.

"Maybe." 

Venus's eye lit up upon hearing the vague answer.

"Who is it from?! Do I know that person?!"

Neptune did not answer her this time.

Of course Venus would not give up without a satisfying answer. She started her own musing.

"This looks familiar. I'm pretty sure I have seen it somewhere before," Venus said to herself, and suddenly she almost jumped as if she had just made a breakthrough discovery. "It was the boutonnière, wasn't it?! Oh my, I was actually the one who  _introduced_  you two!" She giggled. "So she gave you that? I can't believe you kept it for so long. It's been months!"

Neptune's face was now completely flushed.

"So tell me more, did you two start shortly after my  _introduction_?" The blonde princess persisted eagerly, grinning, "Sounds like I missed some good stories there!"

"No, Venus! We are just senshi partners," Neptune explained. She sighed softly, regretting all of her responses that led to this lengthy interrogation from her friend.

"Then how do you explain that flower?"

"Well, this is the Windflower, one of the two floral emblems on her planet." Neptune admired the zaffre blue flower again before placing the small dish back onto her vanity table. "It represents trust and loyalty. She gave it to me as a pledge to our partnership. Trust me, it's not what you think it is."

"Really," Venus commented in a half-patronizing tone. "Well, you know trust and loyalty come from actions, not words and gifts."

"Of course I know that."

"With that said," Venus continued, "let's get you some new flowers then." She tried to reach for the dish again but the aqua-haired princess guarded it closely.

"Venus, come on!"

"I'm just teasing you," Venus said chortling. "Does she know yet?"

"Know about what?"

"You know what I'm asking."

"I've told you already, we're just part-"

"Fine, Neptune. You guys are just 'partners'. I don't want to keep reminding you, but you're not getting any younger. I'm surprised that you seem to be no hurry in figuring out who your 'life partner' is. Didn't you start getting proposals from suitors?"

Great, now Venus was going to give her a lecture.

"I did. I haven't had a chance to go through them."

"Well, I'm pretty sure Uranus is getting the same amount of offers and love letters from suitors and admirers, if not more, than you do." Venus teased.

"What do you mean 'if not more' than I do?" Neptune asked offended.

"I assume you don't know your senshi partner has lots of admirers," Venus commented with a wry smile. "I thought you might want to know that there are a few young noble ladies on my planet hoping to court her."

Venus words caused a slight discomfort in Neptune's heart. Unknowingly, the aqua-haired princess twirled around her curls and looked outside the windows, toward the direction of Miranda Castle. "Well, if that's the case I-I guess good for her then."

"Come on, Neptune. You obviously like her! Why don't you do something about it?"

The aqua-haired princess looked at her friend with raised eyebrows, as if she just heard a ridiculous comment.

"I'm serious! What's stopping you? You see her all the time. Why can't you just tell her? You can even skip the courtship ritual."

Neptune hesitated.

"Well, just in case Uranus isn't available, I have some news that you might be interested," Venus said giggling.

Neptune narrowed her eyes at her friend. With a soft sigh, she said, "okay, tell me."

"Prince Daphnis is still available. He-"

"He is just a friend," Neptune interrupted.

"Oh right, childhood sweet-, I mean friends," Venus said, chuckling gleefully. "Anyway, you need to hear the rest of the story. News had it that he was considering meeting someone but gave up the idea right after Saturn's twelfth birthday party."

"How did you hear about this gossip?" The wavy-haired princess asked incredulously.

"That's the least important part," Venus explained without directly addressing Neptune's concern. "I heard that his decision had something to do with you!"

"Honestly, we haven't even exchanged a word after that party," Neptune recounted. "All I did was performing at the party, which,  _thanks to you_  for recommending me so he asked me to play the harp/flute duet with him."

Venus smiled. " _You're welcome_ , Neptune! I think you should check the pile of your invitationss carefully. Maybe he sent you something, you know."

"Okay, Venus. I didn't invite you here to give me a lecture about courtship. Let's go to the lab and check out their progress on the potion."

The two princesses went on to spending some time together. After Venus's departure, Neptune found herself alone in her study. There were a few piles of small boxes stacked up on her desk. Without having to open any of them, the aqua-haired princess had a good gauge of what they were. She just had been ignoring them since the first few ones that came in, and now the pile was getting taller.

She finally decided to go through them in order to free up space on her desk.

Everything looked lavish and flamboyant on the outside– the boxes were either luxuriously embossed, or covered in silk, velvet, or lace, and bound by shimmering satin ribbon or a shiny crystal clasp. Inside each package held a scroll rolled up elegantly around two golden or silver scroll rods, tied up in a lace ribbon, or a twine and sealed with wax.

As expected, those were formal courtship proposals from suitors. The offers came along with meeting arrangement in various forms, from an intimate tea party to a formal meeting ceremony with the suitor's large family.

The wavy-haired princess had no interest in accepting any proposal from the invitations she had gone through. The only thing she found interesting was the variations in courtship ritual different planets tended to follow - a scholar from Ceres attached a love poem written in calligraphy along with the invitation; a nobleman from Venus included a well-made bracelet with heart shaped charms; and a guardian from the planet of Kinmoku sent her some lyrics, with the title "search for your love…"

After going through a few more, Neptune stopped paying much attention to who the suitor was. She just simply read through the content and set the package aside before moving onto the next one. Nothing caught her attention until a zaffre blue box, with a golden ribbon tied around it, was the next one she was about to open.

These were the colors of the two floral emblems on the Uranian planet – was this sent by…her senshi partner?

Her eyes lit up and she opened it immediately.

As expected, it indeed came from the Uranian planet. There was a freshly cut (even though it wasn't the freshest since Neptune had been ignoring the offers) golden Skyflower inside the package, the floral emblem that represented love. Her heart beat quickly as she removed the twine around the scroll and unrolled it to read the content.

Her excitement instantly faded as she learned that the invitation came from a young naval officer instead of Princess Uranus.

Don't be silly. Neptune scolded herself. Why would she be receiving a courtship invitation, or even expecting one from her senshi partner? That should be the last thing Uranus would send her. Plus, didn't Uranus (as "Haruka" the Oberon guard before their official meeting) declare that she would only 'consider courting Neptune' if she exhausted all other options? Neptune was pretty sure that her senshi partner was merely joking when she made that comment. So what even if she was serious? That meant Uranus would need to reject all admirers or be rejected by every single lady she was hoping court before they would even have a chance to move down that path…

Out of nowhere, Neptune suddenly had a mental image of Uranus crafting an invitation to an unknown young girl. There was a chaste smile on her partner's face as she was writing a heartfelt message and attaching a freshly cut golden Skyflower to the delicate zaffre blue box and wrapping it with a golden ribbon, just like the one she had sitting on her desk…

Unknowingly, the wavy-haired princess started biting down her lower lip and her breath was getting shorter. She conveniently grabbed a kneaded eraser on her desk and made a big dent on it with her thumb. Somehow this random image bothered her so much that she couldn't even come up with an explanation for.

Neptune continued to immerse herself in this thought and dwelt on it for another unknown amount of time, until she finally made a conscious decision to bring it to a halt.

What was wrong with her? Why would she ever throw "Uranus" and "courtship" into the mix in her thought to begin with?

Even though she had some feelings for her prior to their official meeting and she surmised that the feeling was mutual, they had never spoken about it at all after becoming senshi partners. Their few recent meetings were merely collaborations in defeating enemies.

That night at Princess Saturn's birthday party, the dance, the hand holding, or even the lingering eye contact were just friendly gestures as senshi partners and nothing more.

 _It was nothing_ , Neptune tried to convince herself. The feeling for  _Haruka_  was nonexistent, since  _Haruka_ never existed anyway.

Plus, how embarrassing would it be if she told Uranus how she felt only to find that her feeling was unreciprocated? Her fun-loving and occasionally mischievous partner would endlessly ridicule her for it. Was she ready to endure some cruel jokes from Uranus perpetually? No, not worth the risk.

Neptune started gathering and consolidating the scattered boxes as a way to stop letting her mind go autopilot and come up with more unrealistic thoughts and expectations. After all, she had her music and art and a pivotal responsibility of guardian duties. She concluded that she had no interest in following the social norm of 'meeting a life partner' like everyone else in the solar system.

As she carried on with the task of decluttering her desk, one box was accidentally knocked down onto the floor. She picked it up and glanced at it casually. She wasn't expecting it to be anything different, but it caught her attention. Instead of having an overly embellished appearance like everything else she had seen so far - the dark purple box was minimally decorated. There was neither a ribbon nor a twine wrapped around it. It also felt much lighter comparing to others that contained scrolls wrapped around metal rods. Out of curiosity, Neptune wanted to find out what was inside.

When the lid was removed, the package revealed an intriguing scent. She vaguely remembered the scent but couldn't recall where she had caught it before. It was lingering but not overpowering. Inside the box was a simple scroll, not rolled up around rods, but tied nicely by a braided violet tassel.

As Neptune unrolled the scroll, she realized that it was not a proposal, but a letter of appreciation from Prince Daphnis of Saturn. He thanked her for playing the harp at his little sister's birthday party and reiterated his admiration of her performance. The letter was written in a unique form of calligraphy and his message was personal and heartfelt.

There was also a piece of paper attached to the letter. Neptune smoothed out the sheet and was surprised to find that it was something more interesting than anything she had received from her suitors.

It was a sheet music.

The musician hummed along as she read through the score, and the corners of her lips curled upward approvingly. It was an exceptional piece both technically and lyrically - the melody was captivating, and the dynamics was cleverly-planned, and the ornaments were creative but not ostentatious. The balance between melody and rhythm was perfect. After having studied and played countless masterful compositions herself, Neptune was surprised to learn that there was nothing in particular in this sheet music that she didn't like about or thought needed improvement.

Just when she was enjoying the song and planned to play it on her violin afterwards, the music stopped at the climax.

She checked the content in the package again but couldn't find the missing page to succeed where it had left off. It made her a little disappointed that it was just an unfinished composition. She speculated that Prince Daphnis sent her a song as an appreciation for her performance, but she couldn't explain why he would send her an incomplete score.

The aqua-haired princess looked at the letter again. There was nothing mentioned about the sheet music. Not being able to explain this peculiar move, the only reason she could come up with was that maybe he had mistakenly rolled it up along with the letter and it was not meant to be sent along. She set it aside on her desk and figured that she would find a way to return the unfinished sheet music to him.

Neptune had a hard time falling asleep that night. She tossed and turned on her bed endlessly. She tried to meditate but failed to find any calmness; she tried to negotiate with her head but her heart seemed to be winning the battle.

Feeling frustrated, she went to the pinnacle of her castle and looked up to the boundless space. As usual, she naturally faced the direction of Miranda Castle, and allowed her mind to wander through the vast space aimlessly.

* * *

**Neso, Moon of Neptune**

Just a few days after Neptune had her random thought about 'Uranus' and 'courtship', she got to see Uranus. They met up on one of the moons of Neptune to halt an enemy assault together.

"Deep Submerge!" Neptune shouted. She hurled her attack at monsters and minions while Uranus was engaging in a sword duel with a high-ranked general of the Dark Kingdom and its mirrored images. The guardian of the sea was supporting her partner by making sure that her surrounding was clear of enemies and trying to help identifying between the real general out of the many cloned versions of him.

Soon Neptune defeated the minions of the troops and joined Uranus, but the battle hadn't become easier. The challenge was that not even the Deep Aqua Mirror was able to distinguish the difference between the actual general and the illusions. The fight dragged on much longer and seemed to have come to a dead end since neither side was able to vanquish the other.

Uranus and Neptune stood back to back with each other, preparing for more attacks.

"This is going nowhere, the more we attack the more he mirrored himself," Uranus said, before brandishing her Space Sword towards more illusions.

"You're right, Uranus. And the more the decoys the less likely we'll hit an actual one directly," Neptune replied. Suddenly realizing that this might be the enemy's scheme to exhaust them, she came up with a counter response.

"Let's tweak our strategy."

With an exchange of a knowing eye contact and a nod, Uranus and Neptune swiftly switched their approach. The senshi stayed away from melee combat and switched to the defensive side instead. They also learned that the mirrored images were merely distractions and dealt no material damage. Together they made minimal effort in disintegrating decoys but mostly aimed to dodge a hit and returned a ranged attack only when it was necessary. They appeared to be perfectly content fighting this endless battle passively and let it drag out as long as possible, waiting for a response from the enemy.

"I'm starting to enjoy this little game here. Isn't it fun, Uranus?" Neptune asked.

"It is indeed," Uranus agreed. "We've got plenty of time to play this game."

The general and its cloned impostors laughed maliciously.

"You two are so naïve. I have already sent a large troop to Miranda Castle while I keep you here," the humanoids boasted.

Uranus looked over at Neptune from the corners of her eyes. Perhaps one of them should have retreated to defend the castle, but the guardian of the sea stood unmoved.

"Oh really," Neptune answered, amused. She did not even look into her Mirror to validate his claim. "That works out in our favor then. Pluto also went out to raid the operations you set up on looted asteroids along the Belt. We're just here waiting for the good news while keeping you entertained."

The humanoid and his images paused, and then suddenly guffawed at the response.

"So you gave up on your castle then?!"

"Sure, that seems like a good trade," Neptune replied calmly.

"You'd be sorry for your decision."

"We'll see about that," Uranus said.

The fighting resumed at the battlefield.  Neptune and Uranus did not even look slightly concerned with the general’s threat and stuck with their defensive strategy.  They continued to attack what came their way , waiting for him to lose his patience first.

It was not long before he did. The humanoid suddenly duplicated himself into hundreds of more mirrored images.

"It's about time," Neptune whispered to Uranus.

As expected, one of the general lookalikes tried to flee the scene.

"Uranus, right there!" Neptune pointed at the one escaping. She sent her Submarine Reflection towards him. The humanoid took a hit and his ability to mirror himself was disabled.

The guardian of the Sky quickly denied his retreat by catching up to him with her wind-like speed and sent a beaming light towards him with her Space Sword.

"You're spoiling the fun," Uranus said, impeding his movement.  She sealed his fate by shoving her mystic talisman into his weak point at the forehead. He let out a painful scream and vanished into the air, and at the same time all of the illusions he summoned disappeared simultaneously.

Neptune walked over to her partner.

"Thank you for coming, Uranus."

"You're welcome. I'm glad to help," Uranus said.

The senshi partners then stayed quiet as Neptune looked into her Mirror to check for enemy activities near their planets.

"It's all clear," Neptune confirmed, looking at Uranus with an assuring smile.

Uranus's lips curved upward slightly as she took her partner's hand, pulling her closer.

"Neptune, I almost thought you were serious," she commented.

"Hmm?"

"Well, you seemed unconcerned by the possible attack on my castle," Uranus elaborated further.

"Humph, maybe I was," Neptune joked with a wry smile on her face, "things certainly did not end well the last time when I was concerned."

Obviously what Neptune said wasn't true. She acted that way only because she had to during the battle. When she heard the threat from the Dark Kingdom's general, her first instinct was to check into her Mirror or send whatever attack towards him, but she knew that wouldn't turn the battle to their advantage. If there was any opportunity to gain an upper-hand, she had to call the general's bluff and make him believe that he had more to lose, and time wouldn't be in his favor if he wasted more time, so that he would push to end the battle sooner and make a non-logical decision, which he did by quickly escaping and exposed his real self.

Instead of coming up with some witty comment as a rebuttal to her joke which Uranus would normally do, she seemed taken aback.

"Neptune, your ability to stay calm amazes me," Uranus praised in a rather painful tone.

Even though it was a compliment, Neptune knew that it was a condemnation of her insensitivity. Every time when there was an attack on Triton Castle, the Neptunian planet, or its moons, regardless of the enemy size, Uranus would come to assist her without thinking twice. This time she didn't even show a slight sign of concern upon hearing that her partner's castle was about to come under attack. That did not sound right.

She felt a pinch in her heart seeing the disappointing look on Uranus's face.

"I-I guess… you just make yourself stay calm even when your heart tells your otherwise.” Neptune tried to explain. Truthfully, that was the only thing she had in mind during battle and her self-discipline in negotiations, but somehow she had a hard time affirming her answer.

Uranus gazed at her unemotionally and seemed to be contemplating something. In this situation Neptune should have been able to bring that theory to practice, but ironically she had a hard time following through. Her shorter breath and accelerating heartbeats were the evidence of her failing her own rule.

Uranus stepped closer to her. They were standing in proximity that they could feel each other's breath. Neptune's heart was pounding as this point. Was Uranus upset at her? Or was she going to call her out for the rule that she couldn't even follow?

"Neptune," Uranus began in her deep husky voice.

"Hmm?"

"I just noticed you started wearing perfume."

That wasn't the comment she expected to hear from her senshi partner at all. Perfume? She had never asked her alchemist to develop anything like that, maybe that would be a good future project. But where did Uranus pick up that scent from?

She lifted up her wrist toward her face and took a slight sniff, and then she almost gasped realizing that it was the intriguing scent from the box sent from Prince Daphnis. She had no idea that it was lingering for such long time.

"It's- it's from-" colors started appearing on Neptune's cheeks as she tried to explain the origin of the scent.

Uranus chortled. The same laughter that she had every time before Neptune was teased. The guardian of the sea was a bit relief that Uranus seemed to have gotten over her action during battle, yet she also felt sorry for herself, because she was about to be poked fun at by her partner.

"How can you Neptune, I thought you gave me the Skyflower."

The same old joke again. Uranus said it in a tone that obviously lacked earnestness.

 _I gave you the Skyflower by mistake, but I mean it now_. Neptune wanted to say.  
What would Uranus think hearing that? She pondered.

"Uranus, I-I," she began rather nervously.

Uranus burst out laughing instead.

"I'm teasing you, Neptune. You get so riled up every time I joke about this," she said lightly. "Okay, I promise someday I'll let you off the hook for this silly joke."

The blonde princess then gave Neptune a smile that was a polite gesture of announcing that she had to return to her planet. That was Neptune's least favorite moment of their meet up, yet ironically it was also her favorite, because what Uranus was about to do was something that would get her heart beating quicker than the adrenaline rush from fighting monsters.

Uranus gently cupped her face and leaned even closer so that their lips were almost touching each other's. Neptune was affected by this move every time. It made her pupils dilate and her cheeks color instantly.

"I'll see you next time, Neptune," she whispered in her deep husky voice, brushing her lips lightly over hers.

With a bittersweet smile, Neptune bid her farewell as well.

* * *

**Triton Castle**

After that, Neptune experienced more restless nights.

 _What was wrong with you?!_  She scolded herself.  _How could you almost tell your senshi partner that you love her? Didn't you have any self-control?!_

But frankly she wanted to. This struggle between wanting her partner to know how she felt and believing that her feeling was unrequited anyway, was mentally torturing. Why would she do something that wouldn't produce any outcome? In no way that sounded like a rational move.

But...what did those gentle brushes on the lips in their last few meetings mean? Were they really a friendly gesture or an appreciation of their partnership or something more?

How could she stay calm and logical at the battlefield but unsettled and emotional when it came to thinking about Uranus? How could she be able to negotiate with enemies or even Queen Serenity but couldn't even negotiate with her own heart?

A few more weeks went by, and Neptune realized that she could not stop thinking about "Uranus" without adding "courtship" into the mix. Suddenly the conversation with Venus hit her again.

_What's stopping you? You see her all the time. Why can't you just tell her?_

Perhaps Venus was right? What was stopping her from being candid with her senshi partner? After all, Uranus gave her the Windflower as a pledge of trust and loyalty as senshi partners, and a true partnership should allow both partners to be completely straightforward and forthcoming with everything. So wouldn't that include how they feel about each other?

Was it just that simple?

Neptune wasn't sure. To her thinking about relationship was essentially exploring an unfamiliar territory and she did not even know where to begin.

 _"You can even skip the courtship ritual."_  Venus's suggestion crossed her mind again.

With a sarcastic smile, Neptune had to admit that her happy-go-lucky friend did know a thing or two about relationships.

The next day, the aqua-haired princess put on one of her favorite dresses, a one-shoulder aquamarine chiffon dress. With the crystal violin in her hands, she was ready to tell Uranus the truth from the bottom of her heart.

* * *

 

  
Prince Daphnis of Saturn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a hypocrite. Despite the fact that I didn't like the idea of OCs, I spent quite a bit of time re-drawing Prince Daphnis because he was poorly drawn in the mini-doujinshi and did not fit the description of 'an attractive prince'. So here he is. I think he looks bit better now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delayed update, been a bit busy with work recently!
> 
> We'll learn a bit more about Prince Daphnis in this chapter!

**Titan Castle**

Prince Daphnis and Princess Saturn were having breakfast together in the state dining room.

"Saturn," Daphnis began in a soft voice and a regretful tone, "I'm afraid I have bad news for you."

Very typical of Daphnis, Saturn thought. Always calm and composed. Even if the palace was crumbling, he could still remain unruffled and preface the news with such gentle and sincere warning. His ability to put difficult things at ease was so superb that she had lost count of how many times she actually embraced his bad news in a positive manner.

But Saturn decided that she would make things a little difficult for him today.

"Oh no!" Saturn put down her silverware and pretended to be perturbed. She held a hand up, shaking her head and gesturing him to stop. "Please don't tell me! I'm not ready for it!"

Daphnis put down his silverware as well. He honored her request and stayed quiet.

Saturn giggled inwardly.

There was a lengthy silence, long enough that Saturn was actually starting to wonder what he wanted to say. Before she succumbed to her own curiosity and reluctantly inquired about the news, Daphnis continued in the same tone and voice, "I'm know, Saturn, you are probably going to be angry at me if I tell you-"

He paused again. The same regretful expression lingered on his face since the start of the conversation. The young princess was even keener to learn about the news at this point, but she still wanted to give him a hard time.

"Ugh Daphnis, I know that expression of yours far too well. It must be something horrible! You're not telling me…? Oh no!" Saturn said raising her voice and shaking her head disbelievingly.

Daphnis remained calm. He did not attempt to explain or deduce her speculation.

"What's on your mind, Saturn?" He asked directly.

"You've decided not to court anyone or get married, am I right? Is that the bad news you were going to tell me?"

The dark-haired prince looked at his sister with an amused expression, then chuckled.

"It sounds like you really can't wait to get rid of me," he stated, instead of answering her question.

"Of course," Saturn teased.

"Oh?" He seemed surprised. "How will your life be better off then?"

"At least I won't be bugged to practice the flute all the time!" Saturn said grinning.

He snorted, followed by offering a knowing smile and shaking his head.

"Well, if that's the case, then I suppose if I stop bugging you to practice but never get married for the rest of my life, it would still be good news for you?"

"But-"

"Nice try Saturn," Daphnis teased.

Saturn realized that she had been baited with his response. When he brought up that "can't-wait-to-get-rid-of-me" assumption, not only he was able to dodge having to answer the question he had been avoiding, but he also took control of the little debate so that regardless of how she answered him, he could find a way to counter it.

"Now I know why no one on the planet wants to debate with you," Saturn announced her defeat. "So what is the bad news then?"

"The rehearsal for my recital has been rescheduled to tomorrow."

"Aw, that's too bad," Saturn said, without thinking much.

 _That's it? It's not that bad after all._   _At least Daphnis wasn't giving up courting someone._  Saturn thought. She picked up her silverware and resumed eating.

"It'll be a long rehearsal so I won't be around most of the day," Daphnis added. "I know you wanted me to spend some time with you and your friend."

Saturn's eyes widened and she put down her silverware again.

 _Wait, this wasn't bad news– it was horrible news!_ She had been planning her friend's visit for a long time.

The gregarious little girl had a look of disapproval on her face. She made no effort in hiding her disappointment at all.

"Hey Firefly, you seem very disappointed," he said softly.

"Stop calling my nickname. Not now." Saturn responded in a stern voice.

"Pardon me, Saturn, I didn't mean to upset you."

"Too late!"

"Saturn, I can assure you that I would love to host your friend's visit and spend time with you two," Daphnis explained. He found it a bit strange that his little sister eagerly wanted him to spend time with her friend, but he did not question her motive.

Saturn remained silent.

"Please allow me to make it up to you. Is there another time that works for both of you?"

Saturn tried to explore other options, but there was no better time other than tomorrow with their scheduling conflicts. And Daphnis would be occupied with holding recitals in the upcoming weeks.

The only feasible time seemed to be asking her friend to come over today instead. It would be extremely last minute, but not impossible. She had to try.

"I can try asking her to come over today," Saturn suggested.

"That would work. I'm teaching this morning but I'll be available afterwards," Daphnis said. "Thanks for being flexible Saturn - I hope to see your friend too, although you never told me who this mysterious friend of yours is."

"You will know."

Saturn's hope remained alive and she couldn't hide the slight smile on her face.

* * *

**Altar of Darkness, Dark Kingdom**

Queen Beryl was in tremendous pain. She lost grip of her mystical staff and her body shuddered.

"Please-" she struggled to speak.

She pressed her long and cold fingers on the temples, screaming to the waves of electrocuting attacks emitted from her own black tiara and crystal amulets necklace.

While the attack receded, an inaudible noise circled around her jewelries.

"I'll never forget that!" Queen Beryl responded. She was able to understand and communicate with the message. "That was in the plan."

"It's just the outer senshi who got in my way every time," she defended. "They have defeated Esmeraude, Reubus and Saphir…"

Before she finished her sentence, the waves of attack resumed. Not even the commander of the Dark Kingdom had the power to stop this.

"I promise!" the fire-red haired queen pleaded. After an umpteenth time of pledging and begging, the wave finally subsided and she was able to regain control.

"You are going to pay for this…" Queen Beryl whispered, her voice full of hatred.

Turned out that Queen Metaria, the mastermind of the Dark Kingdom, was unsatisfied and becoming impatient with the progress that Queen Beryl had made in obtaining Silver Crystal, the most powerful artifact in the entire cosmos and possessed immeasurable power. The ruler of the Dark Kingdom needed its energy in order to fully revive herself and gain total control of the universe. That was the reason she corrupted the young Earth Sorceress Beryl a few years ago in attempt to carry out that task. Queen Beryl's started her invasions from the outer solar system, however, the outer senshi had successfully denied all attacks or advances from her troops. With the newly formed partnership of Uranus and Neptune, and the support of Pluto, the Dark Kingdom did not stand a chance at any battle that took place past the Kuiper Belt, let alone coming close to posing any material threat to the inner solar system.

* * *

**Miranda Castle, Uranus**

"Princess Neptune, it's always lovely to see you," the butler of Miranda Castle greeted the aqua-haired princess as she arrived at the palace. "I apologize for not expecting and preparing for your arrival."

"It's on me for not arranging a visit in advance," Neptune said politely.

"Not a problem Princess Neptune. I'll also arrange a guest chamber set up for you right away. Our princess is with a visitor but should be back here in a little bit. I will let her know as soon as possible. As always, please make yourself comfortable here."

"Thank you."

Neptune settled in the guest chamber, but instead of waiting around, she decided to take a stroll in Rosalind Garden.

It was a rare sunny day, breezy but not as windy as usual. The gentle wind stirred the twigs and ruffled the leaves on the trees, and blew through the colorful vibrant flowers, producing a pleasant aroma. Neptune couldn't remember if she had ever enjoyed the garden in such placidity.

She passed by the pond and appreciated the lovely and enjoyable scene. This was where she sat and sketched during her first visit and had a couple of encounters with Uranus thereafter. With the crystal violin in her hands, a bright mood and a lively day, she started playing a few jaunty tunes on her instrument.

After a few songs, she switched and played a song in a different style.

It was a love ballad. What made it unique was that it wasn't written by a composer on the Neptunian planet, but by Neptune herself. She had actually spent the past weeks writing and arranging it to her liking. Each note was chosen thoughtfully because she wanted to embed her own personal, heartfelt message into the melody.

A declaration of love on the Neptunian planet was romantic but subtle – the admirer would play a love song on an instrument to the admired. If the feeling was reciprocated, the admired would compliment the song and announce that the melody "touched” his/her heart.

The Neptunian princess decided to follow her planet's courtship ritual after all. She supposed Uranus wouldn't know about the proper rule and she would have to doing a bit of guiding after she finished playing for her. Way to ruin the romance, she smiled to herself.

After repeating the song the second time, she sensed some activities near the garden bridge. She looked over and saw the portal of The Oberon (Uranus's retreat) appearing on the bridge. Neptune knew that it was Uranus returning to Miranda Castle. She stopped playing and waited.

Soon Uranus walked out of the portal. Neptune's eyes lit up when she saw her senshi partner. But the blonde princess did not see her.

"U-" Neptune was about to call her, but a gasp overtook her instead.

She was stupefied by what she saw. Her excitement dwindled and her smile disappeared instantly.

Uranus was not alone – she had a company. She was with a young lady in phthalo-green shoulder-length hair.

But what stunned her wasn't about seeing Uranus with someone else, or even with another lady, it was what the young lady had in her hands – she was holding a beautifully crafted wicker basket filled with golden Skyflowers.

Before Neptune decided how she should think of this and what to do next, a strong wind blew by and carried away some of the Skyflowers out of the young lady's basket. Uranus told the young lady to hold onto the basket and that she would gather the ones on the ground. A few were blown towards the direction of the pond. When Neptune saw that, she quickly retreated and hid behind a tall shrub before her partner had a chance to see her.

The aqua-haired princess took a peek at Uranus behind the tree and tried to analyze the scene from distance away. As she looked on, the light in her eyes faded away and her lashes were lowered. She held her crystal violin tightly against her chest as a desire for comfort, but the instrument felt icy cold. It only chilled her heart that was filled with warmth and hope moments ago.

It was all Venus's fault.

No, Venus didn't force her with her Love-Me Chain didn't she? It was Neptune's own decision.

Why did she ever think it was a good idea to do this to begin with? She should have known that they were senshi partners and there was nothing beyond that.

It was nobody's fault but hers.     

With a sad smile, Neptune supposed that there was a silver lining of this scene in front of her - at least she was able to get an answer and not having to incur a disastrous embarrassment. Obviously Uranus was pursuing or courting this girl who was holding a basket filled with the Uranian's declaration of love. Had she played the love song for Uranus, how humiliating would it be if she asked Uranus how she felt about the song and if the song 'touched' her heart?

Just then, a Skyflower blew over and landed next to her feet. The aqua-haired princess bent down to pick it up.

 _Thanks for that_ , Neptune thought, huffing disdainfully. Seeing the golden Skyflower left a bitter taste in her mouth as she knew that it was a declaration of love from Uranus, but it wasn't meant to be for her.

As she continued to admire the vibrant flower in her hand, mental images of them playing off of each other at the castle resurfaced in her memories. She missed those days when they were younger and hadn't officially become senshi partners then, and how they acted silly and carefree around each other. There was friendship but no expectation from one another. Neptune sighed, perhaps that was how they were meant to be but she mistakenly confused it with something else and got ahead of herself. But how could she explain that night at Saturn's birthday party and the brushes on their lips…

Before Neptune could further continue her musing, her communicator buzzed. She snapped out of her recollection and reached to pick it up immediately.

"This is Neptune," she whispered.

"Neptune, it's me," Saturn playfully whispered back.

"Hey Saturn."

"Is this a bad time to talk?" Saturn continued to in a tiny voice.

She chuckled at the silliness of Saturn. At least this young princess was able to make her smile.

"I've got to go soon, but go ahead, I'm listening."

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come over today instead, but sounds like you're busy."

Neptune grew quiet.

"Neptune?"

She was  _busy_  before, but now she was pretty sure that she wasn't anymore. What else was she going to do at Miranda Castle?

"Hey Neptune? Are you there?"

"Sorry, I'm here. No, I actually can come over today."

"That'd be great! I can't wait to see you!"

There were footsteps approaching. Neptune knew that she shouldn't stay there any longer.

"I've got to go now. I'll see you soon."

After the call ended, Neptune admired the golden flower once more before carefully placing it back onto the ground.

As she got up and tried to leave before anyone could see her, a voice stopped her.

"Picking floral emblem again, Michiru?"

It was a low, deep voice from far behind. Needless to say she didn't need to turn around to know who was calling her.

Wonderful. After all she still had to deal with this embarrassment.

 _Stay calm_ , Neptune reminded herself.  _Stay calm even when your heart tells you to do the opposite._

"Uranus, how many times do I have to remind you-" Neptune countered. She didn't turn around to her senshi partner.

Before she finished her reasoning, the blonde princess interrupted her.

"Not to call you  _Michiru_?"

"Precisely."

"But I like  _Michiru_  better," Uranus said innocently.

Neptune wasn't sure if she should be happy or upset by that statement. She liked  _Michiru_  and enjoyed being  _her_ too. At least  _she_ was more carefree and not having to care about being a proper princess and guardian. Perhaps as  _Michiru_  she could have been more straightforward about her feeling towards her…

When Neptune stayed quiet, Uranus approached closer to her.

"Sorry Neptune, I didn't know you were coming, I was with a guest-" Uranus tried to explain.

"That's okay," Neptune assured. "Looks like I came at a bad time anyway."

"There's never a bad time, I always look forward to seeing you," Uranus said as she stepped closer and placed her hands on Neptune shoulders. She then whispered into her ear. "You look gorgeous today in this dress."

The sweet words and the warmth of Uranus's hands on her shoulders were extremely comforting to Neptune. But the aqua-haired princess knew it was best for her to harden her heart and resist this feeling. After seeing the girl with golden Skyflowers with her own eyes, she couldn't fool herself and believe that the words and the touch from Uranus were anything beyond platonic.

What about their brushes on the lips? With a pinch in her heart, Neptune concluded that they were just meaningless flirts. They meant nothing.

"Thank you. But I'm sorry, I have to go." Neptune said calmly.

"Neptune, we do make good partners, now you just come and go briskly like the wind." Uranus teased.

"Good senshi partners," Neptune said firmly.

Finally sensing something wasn't right, Uranus walked around and stood in front of her.

"What's the matter, Neptune?" Uranus asked softly as she lowered her head to meet Neptune's eyes.

Her handsome face, her soothing voice, her faint breath, her innocent eyes, and just about anything of her senshi partner was everything she yearned for. Neptune found her heartbeat accelerating again and all wanted to do was wrapping her arms around Uranus’s neck and telling her how she felt.

_Stay calm even when your heart tells you to do the opposite._

"Nothing," Neptune assured, blinking and looking away. "I'm just passing by, I am on my way to Saturn." She fought hard with every ounce of her energy the urge to tell Uranus the real purpose of her impromptu visit.

"Are you giving a recital there?" Uranus asked smiling, speculating based on Neptune's outfit and her crystal violin.

"No, I've got an unfinished music score from Prince-" Neptune tried to explain but decided to simplify her answer. "I'm going to see Princess Saturn and Prince Daphnis."

"Daphnis? That aloof flute-playing prince who doesn't talk to anyone?" Uranus asked jokingly, cocking an eyebrow.

"He's not like that," Neptune explained. "It's getting late now, and I really should get going. It was nice seeing you today."

Before getting dangerously close to submitting to her emotions, the aqua-haired princess left Miranda Castle quickly.

She was convinced that everything that she planned for today was a mistake.

* * *

**Altar of Darkness**

Queen Beryl decided that it was time for a switch in strategy.

She called her top general, Demande, to carry out the next attack.

"This is an all-or-nothing mission. I will accept nothing but a victory."

"Absolutely," Demande promised. "Would you like me to take on Clarion, Triton, or Miranda Castle?"

"Titan Castle."

"Titan? Saturn has no senshi, but we all know that its ring is a strong defense system. It'll generate a powerful force field and disturbance that prevents us from getting to it."

"That's why I'm giving you this," Queen Beryl said as she raised her staff before Demande. A dark red crystal ball on the staff generated a powerful shield and engulfed the platinum haired general.

"Nothing can stop you now," Queen Beryl assured. "You'll take a special cloaked unit with you. Even Neptune's Mirror wouldn't be able to detect you unless your attack commence, so you should be able to bypass Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus without getting noticed." Queen Beryl laughed evilly. "I await your good news."

* * *

**Titan Castle**

When Neptune arrived at Saturn, Daphnis was giving flute lessons at Janus Music Conservatory on the planet.

Saturn was excited to see Neptune again. It was only their third meeting (Saturn was only a toddler during Neptune's first visit), but the young princess liked Neptune a lot already. She found the aqua-haired princess very similar to her brother, as they shared an affinity of temperament and were both passionate about music. Her conviction that the two should be together only became stronger after hearing Neptune perform on her violin.

"Neptune, it was lovely!" Saturn complimented her performance.

"Thank you," said Neptune.

"Daphnis often compliments how great you performed on your harp during my birthday party and says you're a brilliant violinist," the young princess said. "I loved your harp performance and I'm so glad that I get to hear you play the violin as well."

"Prince Daphnis is a great flutist himself."

"I know, but he's all about his flute and composition," said Saturn.

"He is very passionate about his music." Neptune praised.

"To be honest with you, sometimes I don't know what Daphnis is thinking."

"Why do you say that?" The aqua-haired princess wasn't sure where that was coming from.

"You know, he's not getting any younger!" Saturn complained. "I've been trying to tell him to meet somebody but he keeps telling me that I am young and he has to take care of me.”

Neptune giggled thinking that Saturn was either curious or overzealous for Daphnis. Somehow the way the young princess complained about her brother sounded just like Venus scolding her for her reluctance to courtship. She secretly hoped that the little princess wouldn't turn into a goddess of love like her best friend did. One in the solar system was more than enough.

"To tell you the truth I think he likes someone but was too shy to pursue her," Saturn said mysteriously.

 _That wasn't necessarily a bad thing_. Neptune thought as she reflected on what happened to her earlier. She gave up her shyness about her feeling towards Uranus, but it still accomplished nothing in the end.

The two princesses then went on to spending some more time together, until Saturn told Neptune that she had some other arrangements.

"Neptune, pardon me but I have to get going now – I have to pick up something from Magellan Castle," said Saturn grinning. "Daphnis should be back later. Thanks for being flexible and coming at the last minute! I hope to see you again soon!"

"It's nice to seeing you Saturn. Safe travels - say hi to Venus for me."

* * *

After Saturn's departure, Neptune decided to stay in Rhea Garden.

Like Thalassa Garden in her Triton Castle, Rhea Garden was next to the palace as well. But the Saturnian garden was quite mysterious - it was forest like, surrounded by tall trees and the surrounding was dewy, misty, and foggy.

Neptune sat down by a small creek. She picked up her violin and started playing again. Naturally she played the same song that she planned to play for Uranus. As she drew the bow across the strings on the delicate instrument, sweet and eloquent sound wafted through the air and echoed throughout the forest.

Since her short visit to Miranda Castle, Neptune had been suppressing her emotions and not letting herself to feel and show them in front of anyone.  It wasn't until she was alone and her heartfelt message was brought to life again from her violin that she finally allowed herself to acknowledge and embrace her true feelings. Tears began to flow from her ocean blue eyes and she wept quietly as she plucked and drew the bow across the strings. The sound she produced was still joyous and emotional, but her heart was filled with melancholy.

About half way into her playing, an airy and ethereal sound started to hum along with her music from afar. She didn't see anyone approaching and continued to play on. The soothing sound complemented the melody she was playing and the instrument resonated with her violin. Without having to look around, Neptune knew that there was only one person capable of producing such poetic sound. Gradually the sounds escaped from the flute were more audible and Neptune decided to let him take over instead. Daphnis carried on with his instrument and added a lyrical touch to song without eclipsing the original composition. Finally, he brought the ballad to a beautiful, immaculate finish.

"What a beautiful, blissful tune," Daphnis appraised after he finished playing, "but when you play with sadness in your heart it manifests in the music."

Neptune stayed silent. She knew that he was able to tell her emotions through hearing her play.

Daphnis knelt down next to her. As he half-suspected, Neptune looked just like the way he described her playing.

"Don't cry," he said in a soothing voice that was as comforting as his flute playing. "A face as exquisite as yours should not be spoiled by tears."

Neptune felt embarrassed and looked away. She rarely cried and had almost never done so in front of anyone. She tried to put her instrument down so that she could wipe away the tears with her free hands.

"Hold onto your violin," the purplish-black haired prince said, taking out a handkerchief from his pocket. "Let me help you."

"Thank you," Neptune said, sniffling slightly.

"You're welcome," Daphnis said as he gently wiped the tears off the face of the wavy-haired princess.

After that, Neptune broke away the eye contact and lowered her chin. She apparently wasn’t going to explain what happened to her. Daphnis stayed kneeling down next to her and waited patiently. When she began staring blankly at the creek, the dark-haired prince brought his flute up again.

"May I?" He asked.

"Please."

He stood up and started playing peaceful and relaxing tunes on his flute. He did not know what was going on in Neptune's mind, but that was the least he could do to offer his compassion and try to brighten up her mood. The soft and silvery sound produced from the instrument traversed smoothly throughout the garden and reverberated gently around them. Neptune slowly shut her eyes and decided to be immersed with the celestial sound instead. Somehow the music seemed to offer healing abilities and helped soothing the discomfort in her heart. After a few songs, Neptune was surprised to find that she actually felt much better than she thought she would be.

"Thank you," Neptune said, "I am fine now."

Daphnis offered his hand and helped her get up on her feet.

"Princess Neptune," he said with a sincere smile, followed by a proper bow, "it is great to see you again. Your playing is beautiful as always."

"Likewise, Prince Daphnis," Neptune returned a smile and a bow to Daphnis.

"Just call me Daphnis."

Neptune nodded.

"It's my honor to have you here," he said. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon."

"Me neither. Only if you didn’t forget your sheet music," said Neptune.

"Sheet music?"

"Well, you left me an unfinished music score in your letter."

Daphnis seemed slightly surprised. He started to contemplate something.

"Ah yes, I guess I did," he responded, shaking his head with a knowing smile.

"You didn't seem that into your music as Saturn claimed," Neptune said.

"Saturn definitely thinks she knows me well," Daphnis said half-jokingly.

"Well, I'm glad at least you get your sheet music back."

"It's such an honor to have you bringing it back to me."

Neptune smiled. She looked over at the creek, recalling the notes she saw on the score and how much she appreciated it, and then began to hum along softly.

"What do you think about the melody?" Daphnis asked casually.

"I think the finished work will sound great."

"You think so?"

"Of course. I really like the music."

"Then…w-would you like to help completing the score with me?"

"Sure," the wavy haired princess said with a nod.

Daphnis seemed a little surprised again. He wasn't expecting this response from Neptune but his eyes lit up after hearing her answer.

"Is everything okay?" Neptune giggled into her hand. "You didn't seem to expect my help."

"Well, did you know-" Daphnis tried to offer an explanation but was distracted by a royal staff.

"She did? Okay, thanks for letting me know. I appreciate it."

"Neptune, may I offer to host your visit? Looks like Saturn won't be around in the afternoon," Daphnis said, "I am sorry for making you come all the way here at the last minute - I should have been more prepared and coordinated for your arrival."

Neptune hesitated for a moment, wondering why Daphnis and Saturn appeared to be a little uncoordinated with things, and why Daphnis seemed a bit surprised about the sheet music. But without questioning further, she nodded gracefully and made her way towards the palace with her childhood friend.

* * *

**Miranda Castle**

Uranus and Pluto were discussing the unusually quiet activity from the Dark Kingdom recently. The two princesses found it odd that there was not even any single threat for weeks and speculated that a bigger attack might be planned under way. Pluto detected some on-and-off signals from time to time, but nothing seemed concrete and assumed that might be disturbance from innocuous signals exchanges between various planets, moons or asteroids.

"Thanks Pluto," Uranus said, "I'll let Neptune know."

"That'd be great."

"And your lab technician should be heading back soon. I'll make sure she gets there safely."

"Thanks Uranus," Pluto said. "I think this time we should be able to find ways to reduce the turnaround time of refining Skyflowers into healing essence."

"I appreciate it."

"How's Neptune?"

"I actually just saw her a little while ago. She just stopped by quickly but said she was on her way to Saturn. She had some an unfinished music score to return to Prince Daphnis."

"I see," Pluto said. She then grew quiet.

"Is everything okay Pluto?"

"Yes," The long haired princess said. "If you do sense anymore activity, please keep me posted."

"Will do."

After that, Uranus sat in her study, looking over at a dried golden flower sitting on her desk and thought about Neptune's brief visit. She couldn't understand why her senshi partner left so abruptly. She supposed that Neptune was merely stopping by just to catch a quick glance with each other.

Then a dull ache appeared in her chest as she recollected their short conversation. She was bothered by it, or more specifically, bothered by hearing Daphnis's name.

The blonde princess remembered that he was the one who invited everyone to Saturn's birthday party, and played the harp/flute duet with Neptune at the party. She couldn't deny that her senshi partner played the harp beautifully and complemented with the flute really well. During the party she overheard someone commenting that the harpist and the flutist played the instruments like they were meant for each other. She did not think twice about that comment until she learned that Neptune was the one who played the harp.

Like her senshi partners, she had a few piles boxes stacked up in her room. She hadn't found a chance to go through them since she was occupied with the collaborating with Pluto on the research project and dealing with her own state of affairs. She knew well what they were for, and supposed that eventually she needed to spend time to deal with them. But just by looking at some of the packages that looked to be extremely feminine appealing, she cringed and wanted to use her sword and shred them into pieces.

_Who do they think I am? The quintessential princess?_

_The quintessential princess_   _should be Neptune instead._  The blonde princess thought. Then she thought of her senshi partner again. Neptune must be getting similar offers as well, since they were the same age.

Suddenly she felt a discomfort in her chest. She did not like that thought at all.

"Your Highness," Uranus's personal attendant called with a few knocks on the door.

"Come in," Uranus allowed.

The personal attendant walked in and bowed politely. "Here's another invitation for you." She held a lavish box, waiting for the princess's decision as to how she wanted to handle it. Based on the piles sitting at the corner, the attendant assumed that the package she was holding would just accumulate the existing piles of offers.

The blonde princess huffed. "I'll take a look."

That was not the answer her personal attendant expected to hear. She stepped forward and placed the box on Uranus's desk.

Great. Another one that looked extremely pleasing to the eyes of a lady. A dark purple box bound by a white lace ribbon.

Since it was sitting on the desk already, why not take a look at this one to get a glimpse of what the other hundreds of them were about? From a statistical standpoint that seemed like a perfectly logical choice.

When Uranus opened the box, she was surprised by the scent that she remembered vaguely. She closed her eyes, trying to recall where she had picked it up from. It was very similar to the scent she smelled from her senshi partner when they defended Neso.

It prompted her curiosity.  She then went on to reveal the content inside the package. There was a love poem attached to the invitation. She read the first few lines of the literature, didn't think much about it and skimmed through it quickly.

Just before she was about to roll the paper into a scroll again, she changed her mind. She went back to re-read the poem. It wasn't because of the actual message that had caught her attention, but-

It was an unfinished poem.

An unfinished poem? Uranus thought it was peculiar. She checked the invitation, trying to see if it would mention anything about that.

In the formal letter, the suitor asked for the honor of having the blonde princess completing the poem together, as a courtship ritual on the Saturnian planet.  _Whatever,_  Uranus thought.

 _But wait…an unfinished poem_?

_An unfinished music score?_

After all, Uranus ended up brandishing her sword and shredding that particular invitation into pieces.

* * *

 

(Note: this is not the last scene of the chapter...if anyone wonders)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Reviews/comments always appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

**Rhea Garden, Titan Castle (Ten years ago)**

_Prince Daphnis and Princess Neptune walked into Rhea Garden together and sat down by the creek._

_The newly acquainted friends took turns in playing solos of their favorite songs on their instruments. Neptune performed a few pieces that demonstrated her masterly techniques. The songs were technically demanding but the young princess had no trouble executing them flawlessly even with her small hands. The young prince opted for pieces that were more evocative and expressive, and he played them beautifully._

_After a few solo performances, the two music prodigies decided to try a duet._

_Neptune began by playing a piece written by a violin master on her planet._   _Daphnis_   _closed his eyes, focusing on the sound emitted from the strings and studied the elements of the music meticulously. Soon he brought the concert flute to his lips and took part with his instrument._

 _Together they produced heavenly sounds_   _– when the instruments played in unison they complemented and blended with one another perfectly; and when they played in contrast, the strings and the woodwind generated interesting but smooth and agreeable harmonies._

_Somewhere along the duet, Daphnis also improvised a variation by adding elegant flourishes to the already brilliant composition._

_"What was that? It wasn't in the sheet music," the six year old princess asked curiously after they finished playing._

_"Just an idea I came up with while playing," the eight year old prince answered._

_"I liked it! It sounded great!" Neptune praised. "Have you thought about composing songs too?"_

_"I actually have begun composing recently – I really enjoy it."_

_Neptune's eyes lit up._

_"I just started learning the harp. It would be nice if it plays well with the flute too."_

_"They do make good sound combinations, but why?" Daphnis asked._

_"Because I want to play with you!" The young princess answered innocently. "You love music as much as I do and you're talented!"_

_"Really? Thank you, you're very talented too!" Daphnis said grinning. "I would like to perform with you as well. Perhaps one day we can have a concert together?"_

_"That will be fun!" Neptune exclaimed and giggled. She looked up to the vast space and her eyes glittered with ideas and imaginations of their future performance._

_"Will you just be playing the flute or writing songs as well for our concert?" She turned to Daphnis and inquired._

_"Both," Daphnis replied confidently. "And will you be playing the violin or the harp?"_

_"Both!"_

_The young prince laughed. "You can't be playing both instruments at the same time!"_

_"But I can play both during the same song!" The young princess countered._

_"Of course you can," The young prince said smiling. "Neptune, no matter which one you choose to play, I promise I will write great songs for our comment."_

_The young princess smiled and nodded._

* * *

**Drawing Room, Palace of Silence, Titan Castle**

Daphnis looked on as Neptune occupied herself with the composition. He couldn't help but reminisce about their first meeting that he always remembered and cherished, even though it took place so long ago. He wondered whether Neptune still had any recollection of that conversation like he did.

Then a sigh almost escaped from his mouth as he reflected on the incident that occurred after their first meeting which led to them growing apart in the last decade. He wanted to stop himself from thinking about this but it was too late.

Meanwhile, the aqua-haired princess was totally focused on finishing the sheet music; she drew her bow across the strings to play a motif.

"What do you think?" Neptune asked after playing and forced Daphnis to snap out of his musing.

"I like it." The dark-haired prince nodded.

"You're giving me the same response to everything I've suggested so far," Neptune complained, "It's your masterpiece, don't you want to perfect it?"

"I do," he said, offering an assuring smile, "but I also genuinely like your ideas."

Neptune snorted and smiled wryly.

"Fine, you'll be partially responsible if it ends up sounding dissonant."

"I'll happily take the total blame for it," he said chuckling.

The aqua-haired princess picked up the pencil and started registering music notations onto the sheet.

**_(Eight years ago)_ **

_The tweenage prince walked past the drawing room of the palace, and a conversation inside the room caught his attention._

_He overheard his name being mentioned and halted his footsteps._

_"Shouldn't we at least discuss with Daphnis first?" The Queen of Saturn asked. "After all, we're arranging his marriage."_

_"There's no need to - this is why we're arranging and making the decision for him," The King of Saturn said. "Plus, those two really enjoyed each other's company and they will be perfect together.  I don't see why Daphnis would object to this - I think he will be thrilled instead."_

_"Okay. Let's finalize the details with the Neptunian family then."_

_Suddenly, the door opened. Daphnis admitted himself into the room. The young prince looked rather angry._

_"Daphnis?" The Queen of Saturn was surprised by her son's abrupt entrance._

_"I don't need an arranged marriage!" He declared._

_"Daphnis!" The King of Saturn said in a stern voice. "Are these proper manner and etiquette for a Saturnian royal? Eavesdropping and joining a private conversation uninvited? And do I have to remind you to use your form of address appropriately?"_

_"Pardon me, Your Majesty," The young prince apologized, followed by a proper bow. "I overheard your conversation, but please-"_

_"Daphnis, you should be appreciative of what we're doing for you," the Queen added. "We have put in a lot of considerations and effort into this.  Do you know who we are arranging you with?"_

_"I know!" The young prince was upset regardless of the intent. "While I am appreciative of your thoughtfulness, I don't want this!"_

_"Why?" The Queen asked, surprised.  "We know you like her a lot. We saw your compositions – you have been writing music for the two of you to play-"_

_"Your Majesty, if I want to marry her I will follow the Saturnian courtship ritual." Daphnis said firmly._

_"What difference does it make?!" The King of Saturn demanded. "After all, you like her, and the arrangement is good for the relationship between both families. It's a mutual benefit!"_

_“Sounds like the latter part is more important for His Majesty!”_

_“Daphnis, how dare you!”_

_"What about Princess Neptune? Is she going to be happy about this? I don't want her to marry me because she is forced to! I want her to be with me because she wants to! That's the difference! It's not fair to not give her a choice!"_

_Daphnis's words were sharp. The King and the Queen could not counter his argument._

_"We hear you, but regardless of the reason, declining this will be an insult to the Neptunian family." The Queen warned._

_"I don't care!" Daphnis yelled. "I just want Princess Neptune to be happy! I will not marry her through an arrangement!"_

_The young prince then left the drawing room angrily, leaving the King and the Queen agitated yet shocked - the mellow and well-mannered prince had never reacted like this._

_Soon after , the relationship between the two royal families deteriorated rapidly, and Neptune and Daphnis did not get to see each other again until years later. During these times the young prince had become taciturn – he chose to express himself through his music, and never spoke a word about courtship or marriage again._

* * *

When Daphnis returned his attention to the sheet music again, he realized that they were about to finish the composition.

He felt an ache in his chest – everything in front of him was what he wanted. It was exactly the route he wanted to pursue when he requested his late parents to grant his wish and nullify their marriage arrangement.

But only if this didn't occur as an inadvertent event, or rather, because of an unfortunate misunderstanding.

_I don't want her to marry me because she is forced to! I want her to be with me because she wants to!_

_This isn't right_ , he struggled inwardly.  _It can't happen like it._  As much as he wanted to naively believe that this would serve as Neptune's acceptance of his courtship offer, it would go against every intention he had in declining the arranged marriage in the first place.

Before the aqua-haired princess registered the last note on the sheet music, Daphnis tried to stop her. However, something else interrupted them instead.

Neptune's communicator started ringing.

"Pardon me, I've got to take this," Neptune said.

"No worries, we've been working on it for a while anyway," Daphnis assured. "We can come back to it later."

* * *

**Terrace, **Palace of Silence, Titan Castle****

"This is Neptune."

"Neptune, where are you?"

"Uranus? I'm on Saturn, I've told you already."

"I know. That's why I'm calling," Uranus explained. "Pluto has been detecting some on and off signals near us that could be enemies, but nothing seems to be able to confirm that. We are speculating that the Dark Kingdom is planning a sizable attack but somehow found a way to bypass us without getting noticed."

Neptune summoned her Mirror to check for signs.

"I don't see anything unusual nearby."

"Okay. Keep an eye out for it, can you?"

"Of course."

Then there was an awkward silence from both sides. It was as if they both had something to say to each other but no one wanted to start speaking first. 

"Neptune-" Uranus began.

"Yes?" The aqua-haired princess answered quickly.

"How is your visit there?"

"It's been good.  Prince Daphnis and I were working on a composition just now."

"I see," Uranus said unemotionally. It certainly wasn't the answer she wanted to hear from her.

The two grew quiet again. Neptune was standing against a column of the terrace, overlooking the courtyard and the entrance to Rhea garden. That was where she retreated to shortly after meeting Uranus officially, after she couldn't still her heart from pounding when they gazed into each other's eyes. She wished she could tell Uranus all of this and how much she missed that night, but she pursed her laps and quietly let the call ended instead.

* * *

**Miranda Castle**

On the Uranian planet, the blonde princess clenched her fists. She was determined that things were far from okay on the Saturnian planet given Neptune's response.

She was upset at herself. She knew what she was supposed to tell Neptune but somehow she couldn't say it when they were on their communicators.

 _Since when were you shy?_ Uranus wondered.

As the princess of her planet and people, Uranus was confident and respected – she never had to think twice about being straightforward with her thoughts, or whether her candor was appreciated. Even in the presence of Queen Serenity she was not afraid to present herself in the way she was most comfortable in and be frank with her words.

But everything seemed different after Neptune, or more precisely, after  _Michiru the bodyguard of Neptune_.

Ever since she met  _Michiru,_  she was intrigued by the bodyguard in every aspect. She enjoyed teasing the princess's  _"doppelgänger"_ , competing or even arguing with her in the silliest way possible when she acted as  _Haruka the Oberon guard_.

In her pseudo identity, she started developing feelings for Michiru, even though she tried to hold back her emotions by telling herself that it wasn't real since _Haruka_ didn’t exist.

Then when they finally met each other and the mystery was solved, she ceased holding back her emotions and started considering more seriously the possibility of having Neptune as someone more than just her senshi partner.

But that also was where the problem started. As senshi partners their bond and trust established quickly and effortlessly. At the battlefield they were so attuned as if they had some sort of telepathic abilities to understand each other without communicating. The last thing Uranus wanted to do was letting her own feelings getting in the way of their partnership and guardian duties. Every time when she saw Neptune, she was tormented by that struggle. She wanted more - she wanted to hold her closely in her arms; and share a deep kiss rather than brushing over each other’s lips...

 _Why didn't you do or say something?_   _Did you really expect your partner to wait for you, or make the first move, after what you said to her at Rosalind Garden?_ * Uranus tried to reason with herself.

* * *

**Terrace, Palace of Silence, Titan Castle**

Neptune stayed in the terrace alone after her conversation with Uranus. She thought she was able to take her mind off by working on the composition, but she couldn't stop thinking about her senshi partner again after speaking to her.

"Neptune," Daphnis spoke softly as he joined her near the columns. "I didn't mean to interrupt you – is everything okay?"

"Yes," Neptune turned around to him. "Pardon me - I didn't realize I stepped out for a long time."

"There's no need to apologize - I was just worried about you." The dark-haired prince explained.

"Let's go finish the composition then," Neptune said. She could use some distraction to stop herself from having unrealistic thoughts again.

Before she was about to head towards the palace, Daphnis stopped her.

"Neptune, there's no rush to finish it, I promise." He declined politely. His voice was almost painful. 

Then a frown appeared on the face of the normally calm and unruffled prince. He quickly turned away from Neptune and faced the direction of the courtyard and looked on, trying to suppress his thought about the past again.

Neptune was a bit puzzled by his response.  She took a glance at her childhood friend briefly, before returning her attention to the tranquil yet mysterious scene in front of her. While enjoying the scenery, she tried to extrapolate and make sense out of everything about this visit that seemed rather peculiar, from his unexpected thank you letter to the interactions she had with Saturn and Daphnis.

The aqua-haired princess then gasped quietly after using her presumptions to infer the implication of an unfinished music score…

  
Young Princess Neptune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Reviews/comments always appreciated.
> 
> Sorry nothing much happened in this short chapter except for the emotional struggles of the three characters.
> 
> *from Ch. 6 of An Everlasting Bond.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone I'm back! (continuing the story. I wasn't really away since I've been posting fanarts here regularly).
> 
> Thank you for following this story and your patience for this delayed update!

 

**Uranus flyby**

Queen Beryl's plan and strategy seemed to be working out well so far. Demande and his cloaked troop had clandestinely traversed past Pluto and Neptune without being detected. The fire-haired queen was confident that her troop would continue to remain unnoticed until making a landing on Titan Castle, which would then launch a surprise, devastating attack. There wouldn't be any senshi to defend the castle - even if there were any resistance or defense from the planet, Demande who was her lead strategists and the strongest general would be able to respond cleverly and defeat his enemies with his tricks and tactics. She anticipated her plan to be a successful one and that the Dark Kingdom would soon be taking over the Saturnian planet as a result. She planned to set her base there and continue conquering the rest of the Outer Solar System, and eventually annihilate the Inner and obtain the Silver Crystal. As she thought about attaining the mystic artifact for Queen Metaria in exchange for the wish that she was promised for, an evil smile revealed on her lips.

* * *

**Palace of the Sky, Miranda Castle**

Uranus was sitting in her study in an attempt to review an infrastructure proposal for Ariel (one of the moons of Uranus), but somehow she seemed to be stuck on the same page and revisited some unimportant, minuscule details for over an hour. Whether she was making her best effort to understand the plan, or being distracted thinking of her senshi parter, only the blonde princess knew the answer to that.

She tried to concentrate on it for another unknown amount of time, before tossing back on her chair frustratingly in a half-giving-up mode. She convinced herself the reason she couldn't make much progress was due to the dauntingly lengthy, boring details that she didn't want to read about nor care for. She groaned looking at the thick remaining pages and grimaced thinking about the agonizing hours she would have to spend on going through them.

The blonde princess then unknowingly glanced over the corner of her desk, where an old and dried golden flower was sitting. She tried not to shift her focus to that but it was too late. She couldn't help but think about how she got the flower, and naturally that thought led her mind to thinking about her senshi partner again.

Did Neptune and Daphnis complete the music score together? Uranus wondered. How come Neptune never mentioned about this until today?

Just when Uranus began to dwell deeper into her thoughts and musing, the gems of her sword flashed. They seemed to be giving her some signal. She ignored it at first since it had happened before and turned out to benign or nothing. But as she thought of her conversation with Pluto earlier, she wanted to be vigilant about any potential enemy presence.

The blonde princess then went to the summit and looked up to the space. Nothing seemed abnormal but something just didn't feel right - as she gained more elevation, the signal on the gems became weaker which seemed to be disproportionately correlated to what she had experienced in the past.

Suspecting that it was indeed enemies intentionally trying to conceal themselves, Uranus decided to patrol the vicinity. Since Pluto had covered Neptune in her partner's absence, she could cover her own planet and perhaps the one with no senshi as well...

* * *

**Terrace, Palace of Silence, Titan Castle**

Neptune was stunned that she almost accepted Daphnis's courtship offer, given what she inferred was accurate.

She recalled her recent conversation with Venus. She didn't believe it at first since she thought it was only a rumor, but now she began to wonder if it had some credibility.

Was it why Saturn seemed so eager to plan everything and insisted that she come over for a visit, and then coincidentally leave for Magellan Castle? (which would actually make Venus's words sound even more intentional) Were the two princesses trying to create a chance for her and Daphnis to spend time together? That would only explain why Daphnis seemed surprised to see her and learn that she was returning his unfinished music score.

She looked over at the dark-haired prince with the corners of her eyes. Her childhood friend was quietly enjoying the scene of the courtyard that was filled with purple fog and misty air.

Neptune then turned her attention to the same view while trying to analyze more of what she had learned. She had no idea he felt that way about her until now. If what Venus said was right, then it would explain why he hadn't yet entered into a courtship with anyone. But why he would stop her from finishing the sheet music? Was he too shy to reveal his feeling as Saturn claimed?

Before Neptune could explore further, Daphnis broke the silence between them.

"Does this place still look the same as what you remember?" He asked without looking at her.

Neptune knew he wasn't asking about her recent visit to celebrate Saturn's birthday.

"Honestly, I don't think I have much recollection of it," she replied, "After all, it's been a decade since my first visit."

"It's been a long time indeed," he concurred.

After a short pause he continued in a deeper voice.

"A lot has changed since then. Not only have you become a violin virtuoso, but also a brilliant harpist," he praised, "although I shouldn't be surprised given how talented you are."

"Thank you. And you are now a renowned flutist in the kingdom as you aspired - what an honor to be the youngest soloist giving recitals at The Crescent (Music Hall in Moon Castle)."

"Thank you," he replied, accompanied by a nonchalant smile on his face.

The dark-haired prince then lowered his eyelashes and gazed at his flute instead. Neptune knew Daphnis was in no way sheepish of his flute mastery, in fact, quite the opposite. There must be more to that expression rather than a shy way of accepting a compliment.

His tone also revealed that life wasn't easy for him during the years they spent apart. Neptune only knew part of the reason was due to the passing of the King and the Queen of Saturn when Metaria launched a massive attack at the Outer Solar System. After his parents' passing, Daphnis had to assume the parental responsibility of raising and nurturing young Princess Saturn.

There were also scandalous rumors and accusations on his parents around the reasons behind their feud with the Neptunian royal family, although the aqua-haired princess was never learned details from her late parents and the Saturnian remained silent about everything.

Without speaking further, the dark haired prince shut his eyes and turned slightly away from her. Slowly he brought the flute up to his lips.

As he blew into the embouchure hole and his long fingers danced dexterously across the keys on the silver metal, clear and euphonious sounds wafted into the air surrounding them. The song he played sounded almost like an etude, technically strenuous but contained little lyrical value. Neptune had no idea what he was thinking just by listening to the music. The maestro was in total control and his delivery was faultless.

If music was a way to reveal someone's heart, then Daphnis was definitely an exception to that theory. The choice of music and the way he interpreted it certainly was not a true reflection of how he looked just moments ago. She certainly wasn't convinced that based on his playing, from the melodious tune to the straightforward style of execution, was a depiction of what was on his mind. If anything, the succinct and blatantly lighthearted tune was just means of hiding his unspoken feelings and masking his subtle desire…

As Daphnis continued to play, an intriguing scent emerged from nowhere and dispersed into the air. It was faintly detectable but Neptune was able to discern the scent - it was the same one she caught from the package that lingered around her for days.

Feeling enough of being in the dark, the aqua-haired princess decided to decode the mystery.

"Daphnis," Neptune began after he finished playing and lowered his flute again. "What a lovely tune and an impeccable delivery. I assume you composed it yourself?"

"Thank you," Daphnis said. "I wrote it for my students, but all of them interpret the piece a little differently and play it their own way."

"Does it bother you when the single source of truth is being deviated?"

"Not at all," he answered. "I actually appreciate the variation in articulation. That's the beauty of it."

Being fully aware of Neptune's question and the way she looked at him, Daphnis offered her a knowing smile, as if he recognized her intent to have a deeper and more candid conversation.

"Please enlighten me Princess Neptune," he said in a courtly but slightly playful manner. "I'm all ears."

Neptune was surprised that he could read her so well; she also knew that it would take a more heartfelt exchange to get the answer she was seeking, since he sounded more than comfortable and prepared for this.

"It seems like you have recollection of our first meeting." She began.

"Of course," Daphnis said without hesitation, "It'll take a lot for me to forget that."

The purple-haired prince made no effort to hide the fact that he remembered their first meeting, and the way he emphasized it being a memorable event revealed to her that the meeting held a significant place in his heart. She reassessed and decided she was going to tell him something that might actually surprise him.

"I don't think I've ever mentioned this to you, but I actually have some vague memory from that visit."

"Really?" He asked. A cheerful grin indicated that he did not anticipate to hear this. "I certainly hope it was something pleasant."

"It was," Neptune said straightforwardly.

"Would you care to share with me?"

With a smile, Neptune turned her face towards the courtyard again and continued. "I still recall how excited I was dreaming about performing at a concert."

"That was certainly a pleasant one," he said approvingly. "Well, I'm glad your dream came true. I have heard nothing but praises for your performances."

"Those were recitals, Daphnis, not concerts." Neptune looked up to the vast space, her eyes glinted with the same sparks when she first explored that idea. "You know, at times I wonder what it would be like to not perform as a soloist."

Daphnis lips parted slightly as if he was about to say something, but he held back and looked away instead.

"I am sure you've had a ton of offers, Princess Neptune. It'd be any musician's honor to have the chance to collaborate with you."

"You do know me well, don't you?"

Daphnis snorted without answering her.

"Having holding multiple concerts, would you like to share your experience? Did you select the music over the musician, or vice versa?"

"Definitely the musician, since I compose the music," Daphnis said firmly.

"You know, I'll have to consider both factors, unless I start composing music too."

"I can assure that you will find a good fit for -"

Before Daphnis finished his sentence, Neptune asked.

"Wouldn't it be easier if I just need to focus on considering one factor?"

"Of course," He acknowledged.

"Well then," Neptune took a short pause before continuing, "did you write songs for our concert?"

Her question made Daphnis grew quiet. That was obviously not what he was expecting to hear from her as he did not seem ready to answer that question. Perhaps he didn't think Neptune would remember this conversation as well.

Neptune had a good guess of what the answer was given that he asked her to play the harp and flute duet for Saturn's birthday party. As she awaited his answer, she also started thinking that Venus had to be part of this too, since the blonde princess told to him that she was the best harpist to play flute/harp duet with him. Everything was just too much of a coincidence.

"I never stopped writing music," he affirmed after a long pause. He didn't explicitly answer her question, nor did he deny the fact that he wasn't composing for them.

Neptune was pretty sure Daphnis understood her intent of the conversation and carried on with it. Although on the surface they were catching up on old times and chatting casually, on a deeper level they were also trying to share their feelings with each other by implying them figuratively through musical terms.

His answer was implicit, but the aqua-haired princess understood the implication of it. And what Daphnis said next was going to further reinforce her understanding.

"Without music I probably couldn't get through these years," he said in a deeper voice, looking at Neptune and not trying to hide the pain in his eyes. "I wanted to compose music for the musician I want to perform with."

That was when Daphnis finally revealed his true feelings to her. Neptune couldn't believe that he had kept this to himself for so long. She began to think that if the unfinished music score did not somehow get sent to her  _by mistake_ , and if they did not have this conversation today, perhaps he would stay tight-lipped and never come forth with his feelings. She looked at him, her eyes filled with sympathy for the reticent prince.

"Silly, am I?" He asked with a sad smile.

"Daphnis, I didn't know that was on your mind all these years."

"What else do you think an aloof and uncommunicative prince could do with all the time to himself?" He asked self-mockingly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

"Neptune, don't worry about it." he assured. Heaving a deep sigh of relief, he tried to lighten the mood. "I also promised to write great songs for us remember? Maybe I haven't lived up to my words and since you haven't seen my harp and violin scores yet."

"I'd like to see them."

"I hope that would give you one less thing to consider for your concert," he said grinning.

"I'll have to see them first," Neptune said jokingly.

He chuckled, rather gleefully. "That's fair."

Just then, a drop of rain landed on the marble balustrade. Neptune wasn't looking but it caught her attention because of the sound of the raindrop. It produced a distinguishable sound like a falling of a solid object. The droplet also shimmered like a gemstone.

The aqua-haired princess was fascinated by the view. She stepped forward to take a closer look at the colored droplet. Soon the pace of precipitation picked up and quickly covered the railing with drops of purple rain while the dark and mysterious courtyard showered with scintillating rain that sparkled like amethysts.

"Such a breathtaking view," the aqua-haired princess praised as she admired the shower falling over the courtyard.

"It is. Once every few years we'd get rain showers like this so it's a rather infrequently event. Unfortunately my little sister is away – she would have been excited to see this. She thinks they look like purple chandeliers."

Neptune looked over at the rain shower and nodded. "I think she's right."

"You think I should tell her that she missed it when she returns?" Daphnis asked curiously, but Neptune sensed that there was more to that question. Even though he sounded completely sincere so far, there were parts of the conversation which made Neptune think that there was still something which Daphnis was adamant of keeping to himself.

"Maybe she'd appreciate the honesty," Neptune answered from her own perspective, then asked her own question. "What's holding you back?"

"I'm sure it's my fault for Saturn to miss this," he said in a lighthearted tone. "I'm going to have to find ways to make it up to her."

Neptune smiled without responding him. She looked away and returned her attention to the unusual but brilliant scene, while thinking about his answer and starting to contemplate the possibility that he was merely being set up with this courtship invitation thing by Saturn and probably Venus as well.

Suddenly, another unanticipated weather event occurred at the castle. A vortex of cold air formed and started engulfing the floating citadel. The stream was gelid and chilled the palace and its surrounding instantly. It caused the liquid droplets to freeze, and the purple precipitation quickly solidified and fell like real gemstones.

Neptune was once again amazed by the stunning scene. However, having wearing only a light dress, she shivered as her skins are exposed to the cold air. She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to secure the warmth in her body, but there was nothing to stop the frigid air from permeating her skin.

Before she knew it, a velvety fabric was placed on her shoulders. She looked over and realized that Daphnis had removed his cloak for her. She tried to let him know that she didn't need this but he insisted on his offer.

"I'm sorry you felt cold," the purple-haired prince said as he enveloped the garment around her.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He said, fastening the clasps to secure the cloak. "This is rather unusual - I don't recall the rain causing temperature declines like this."

He gently tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and placed his hands on her shoulders. The gesture came with a combination of fondness and friendliness.

"Looks like the castle will stay frosty for a while. Why don't you stay inside instead? I'll have the staff prepare a warm beverage for you. I'll instruct others to take shelter at the palace too."

Neptune nodded and obliged.

* * *

**Inner Moons of Saturn**

Uranus had entered the Saturnian territory. She had been following the signals on her Sword as a directional guidance and making her way towards Saturn. Everything still appeared to be eerily quiet except for her talisman. The gems continued to flash irregularly. Uranus knew that something wasn't right and suspected that it was indeed the Dark Kingdom sending troops to attack Titan Castle. She thought it was a strange move. Even though there was no senshi on the planet (the senshi didn't know Princess Saturn could be awaken as the last senshi at this point), the ring of Saturn itself was a powerful defense system - it could generate an indestructible force field to stand against enemies. Uranus couldn't understand why the lone planet would be a target of Beryl. What was more unexplainable was how the Dark Kingdom was able to slip through their watch and conceded from Neptune's Deep Aqua Mirror? Regardless, Uranus was determined that she would stop the enemies before they had a chance to get any closer to the Inner Solar System.

Uranus raised her Sword to call upon the teleport command in order expedite her arrival at Titan Castle.

To her surprise, she wasn't able to making a landing on the citadel. The Sword merely reposition her at miles outside of the planet.

Looking at the scene in front her, Uranus's eyes widen immediately - the polychromatic ring appeared to be the same as usual, but there was a dark air vortex swirling around the castle.

At this point Uranus didn't need any more signal to confirm that it was enemy lurking around the castle, but something else made her feel even perturbed.

"Neptune...!"

* * *

**Palace of Silence**

Feeling a little unease and recalling her conversation with Uranus earlier, Neptune summoned the Deep Aqua Mirror to scan for enemies.

An image of a dark vortex surrounding the Titan Castle appeared on her talisman, and the aqua-haired realized that the chilling air was actually not a meteorological phenomena like the purple rain shower, but an illusion that was intentionally created in order to deceive them.

Neptune also thought the appearance of it looked familiar – it resembled an attack that she had encountered before. She then try to analyze the features of the whirlwind and saw a subliminal image of a black crescent moon. She recognized the pattern – it looked exactly the same as the one from her recent battle against the Dark Kingdom's general, Demande. It was a special mission which she and Uranus went to raid an operation Demande set up near the Kuiper Belt. During that mission, the senshi had to retreat after destroying only half of the facility, because they realized that it was actually Demande's scheme to lure them there while stealthily planning a bigger attack on a moon of her own planet.

Neptune got up and looked up to the space through the windows. She couldn't see the icy ring but wondered why it did not respond and attempt to stop the enemy at all. Was it malfunction or something else?

But regardless of the reasons, Neptune was clear that the Dark Kingdom had planned an assault on Titan Castle and possibly the planet as well, and that she was the only one there who could stand a chance to hold off Demande's attack. She knew this impending battle would be a tough one, if not more difficult than the last one. The Dark Kingdom's top general was not only powerful, but also extremely cunning and wily. Her power might not be comparable as his, but not being able to defend the Saturnian castle and planet was simply not an option. Losing would put the safety of the Inner Solar System at risk.

She tried to notify Uranus and ask her to help but couldn't get to her senshi partner. She tried reaching out to Pluto and the call was unsuccessfully as well. The vortex seemed to be preventing her from sending and getting signals on the communicator.

Not having much choices left, Neptune came up with another plan. A risky, all-or-nothing one. She knew she was breaking her promise to Queen Serenity for planning a big act without backup but this seemed to be a feasible one. She went to the ballroom where everyone gathered and confirmed that all staff had taken shelter there. Before she tried to carry on with her step, she realized that Daphnis was not there, and no one seemed to know his whereabouts. The last people who saw him said that he was inside Rhea Garden or outside of Iapetus Music Hall.

With time running out quickly, Neptune grabbed her violin and took off to look for her childhood friend herself.

* * *

**Iapetus Music Hall**

The aqua-haired princess headed towards the music hall quickly after not being able to find Daphnis in Rhea Garden. When she arrived at the plaza of the performance center, the dark-haired prince was standing alone in the middle of the open area.

"Daphnis?" Neptune called as she approached him. He had his back facing her and seemd to be in a pensive state while staring at the palatial hall in front of him.

He turned around to her slowly. Neptune could not see his face too well since he appeared dark in front of the performance hall that shone dazzling lights, but she could tell his face was emotionless and his eyes had darkened into deep dioxazine purple hue.

"What are you doing here?" The aqua-haired princess asked.

He responded with curling the corners of his lips slightly upward.

"What am  _I_  doing here, in my own Castle?" He asked, huffing sarcastically. He then continued in a flirtatious tone. "Princess Neptune, you brought your crystal violin to  _my_  music hall? Looks like you really want to perform with me."

His arms reached out to her, placing his hands on his own cloak that Neptune was wearing.

The aqua-haired princess took a few steps back away from him instead. She thought that it was odd for the reserved and well-mannered prince to act and make comments like this.

"Daphnis, there's no time to explain this, but we really have to get out of here."

"Neptune, do you know what it means if we complete the score together?" He asked calmly.

The aqua-haired princess startled. This was not the question she was thought he would ask directly at this point. She suspected something wasn't right.

But before Neptune could further analyze the situation, something felt out of place. She sensed some dark energy lingering nearby. She could carry on with her plan, but that meant she would have to leave him behind instead.

The aqua-haired princess placed her favorite crystal violin onto the ground and summoned her Mirror.

"We have to go," Neptune commanded. Even though she was still puzzled by his words and actions, she took his hand with her free hand, trying to lead him out of there. "Come with me."

But then something more unexpected happened.

Daphnis abruptly drew his hand back from Neptune's. He stared at her with his dark purple eyes that were filled with anger and agony. It was a side of him that she had never seen before.

Without speaking a word, he raised his flute pointing at her coldly. Neptune was shocked; she definitely did not think he would act like this and had no idea what he was going to do next.

“What-“

Before Neptune was able to ask her question, a strong, piercing wave shot from the opening end of his instrument and blasted at her chest.

"Aw!" Neptune shouted as the wave sent her crashing to the ground a good distance away. The wave was so strong that it was no doubt an actual attack. Luckily she had the thick cloak wrapped around her and it served as a layer of protection, the wave most likely would have injured her badly.

How was this possible? From all she knew no one other than the princesses had powers like this, not even the highest-ranked sorcerers on any planet can deal damage remotely close to this one. The attack was also filled with hatred, anger, and dark energy.

But Daphnis? He was a royal prince, there was no way he could be connected to the Dark Kingdom? Or…could he? Was he covertly working for Queen Beryl? Did he set this thing up with Demande?

Unfortunately there was no time for Neptune to explore her own questions further. The dark-haired prince began to step forward towards her. With the sound of his footsteps sending chills down her back, Neptune knew she had to act quickly before it was too late…

 

Princess Neptune in aquamarine dress, holding a crystal violin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This chapter took me a while to write – mainly because of Daphnis. It was not easy to get a straight answer out of him, right? I had fun writing that conversation and the way they used music to imply their feelings. Hopefully that wasn't too confusing.
> 
> The rain part was inspired by the scientific speculation that it rains diamond on Saturn (and Jupiter). But I thought rain droplets that look like gemstones are far more charming than actually raining solid forms of carbon.
> 
> If you read "Prince" and "Purple Rain", I can assure you that it was entirely coincidental.


End file.
